Turning Point Academy
~ Where Amazing Happens ~
BELONGCOMMITACCOMPLISHA perfectly formed Specialist Independent School, providing a highly successful nurturing educational environment, where our pupils flourish and re-discover their thirst for learning.Celebrating and embracing neuro-diversity all the way!
Welcome from our Principal - Mike Marshall
Welcome to Turning Point Academy, an innovative independent special school, specifically set up to cater for up to 80 children and young people, aged between 7 through to 16 (Years 3 to 11), who have a range of special educational needs that are considered neuro-developmental. TPA is a very special place, a vibrant, happy place, where our pupils thrive and are able to re-discover their thirst for learning and success. TPA is a school 'where amazing happens!'
Amazing relationships, amazing new beginnings where our pupils grow like never before, amazing personalised planning and amazing staff who go that extra mile for our pupils and families - I could go on!
With our team of caring, talented teachers and support staff, we offer a safe, secure environment where our pupils can develop strong, meaningful relationships. We offer a warm, welcoming atmosphere where our pupils are nurtured and everyone is valued and included. A deep understanding of our pupils enables us to take a ‘holistic’ approach to their development. Our school is a lovely calm place, with a well established positive culture and ethos of learning, creating a purposeful vibe and buzz of learning across our school community.
Our school site in Ormskirk serves a wide geographical area, taking children from Liverpool, Knowsley, Sefton, St Helens, Wirral and Lancashire. Our school is well equipped and resourced with bright, attractive and spacious classrooms.
Our school had its very first OFSTED Inspection in December 2019. We are really pleased that we were judged to be a 'good' school overall, with behaviour and safety gaining an 'outstanding' grade. In our most recent OFSTED Inspection in March 2024, we have retained our 'good' overall grade, and we received 'outstanding' grades for behaviour & attitudes and personal development which we are all incredible proud of. I hope you find our website useful. Please use the drop down menu on this website to explore our pages. We have a range of policies available through the school office on request and published on this website. If you would like any further information then please call the school office and ask to speak to Tracy Ball (our Office Manager), who will be happy to help. The only true way to find out more about us is to see for yourself, you won't be disappointed and you will be made most welcome.
Best Wishes,
Mike MarshallPrincipal
Click here for our School Prospectus
Click here to see our OFSTED Inspection Report from March 2024
Experienced Professionals
All our staff are highly experienced in working with children with a range of complex needs. We all show a great deal of patience, empathy and resilience in our work - traits we develop and nurture in all our pupils.
Nurturing Classrooms
We work within the six principles of nurture group provision -
1) Children’s learning is understood developmentally
2) The classroom offers a safe base
3) Nurture is important for the development of self esteem
4) Language is understood as a vital means of communication
5) All behaviour is communication
6) Transitions are significant in the lives of children
Personalised approach
We place great importance on personalised learning and there is a high emphasis on character, confidence and resilience building throughout our curriculum. Our small, well equipped learning environment enables pupils to establish a sense of belonging, where they are able to commit to their education and accomplish great things.
Short & Focused Lessons
Every lesson is 45 minutes long, for optimal effectiveness. Our lessons are focussed and highly structured, with high interest content. There are 6 lessons each day, split across the four dimensions of our curriculum - 1) Core curriculum 2) Creative curriculum 3) Life curriculum 4) Cultural & Social curriculum
Why choose TPA?
- A nurturing school environment, where relationships can prosper and pupils thrive.
- A fresh start, where pupils can see their education out in a supportive setting.
- Qualification routes in KS4 up to GCSE in a range of subjects, and also functional and vocational courses.
- A character and resilience building programme as part of our 'Life Curriculum,' that will enable pupils to develop different aspects of their personal development that may have been previously neglected.
- Expert staff.
- An engaging curriculum.
- A safe, well equipped, highly structured learning environment.
- A well thought out environment that reduces anxiety and sensory overload.
- Small class sizes able to offer a personalised learning experience.
- A calm, purposeful and supportive learning environment.
- Detailed tracking and monitoring of progress, enabling small steps to be celebrated.
- A warm, welcoming buzz of learning.
- A team that understands, celebrates and embraces neuro-diversity.
- An educational environment where your child's needs will not be mis-understood.
- A team that is able to see behaviour as a means of communication and apply a trauma informed care approach to understanding and meeting needs.
Visits to the school can be arranged by contacting our Family Liaison Lead, Rachel Clarke.
Vision &Values
At Turning Point Academy we believe that to truly flourish children must feel valued. So, we focus on what each pupil can achieve, through a personalised approach, and we celebrate their successes at every opportunity.
Our vision is to have a rich understanding of the needs of our pupils, so that the response is targeted and effective, delivering the best possible outcomes. Alongside our academic curriculum, our enrichment programme helps to bring learning to life. We encourage independence and develop interests, and we build character and resilience in everyone, so that our pupils are able to take their place in society as successful citizens.
Through a deep knowledge of our pupils, and through the skills and expertise of our staff, together with a close working partnership that includes the thoughts and wishes of our pupils and their parents, our core values of BELONG, COMMIT and ACCOMPLISH will come to life!
Our Curriculum
A Three Dimensional Curriculum
1 - Core Curriculum2 - Creative Curriculum3 - Life Curriculum - Personal, Social & Cultural
CURRICULUM INTENT
We intend to provide a highly engaging curriculum across all subjects at TPA which serves for many pupils to re-engage them with learning after periods of disengagement or non-attendance in school. We do this by providing learning in a highly interactive curriculum in which pupils experience a high level of success. We take advantage of the all-through nature of school in order to plan a learning flightpath which can be mapped across the key stages.
Our broad intent across the curriculum -
* One of the fundamental intentions of teaching and learning across all subjects at TPA, is to maximise the opportunities for success. We believe that if pupils feel they can be and are successful in their learning, they will become more engaged and enthusiastic in their learning approaches. This requires teachers at TPA to use a broad repertoire of techniques for our pupils, many of whom may have experiences little success in their recent educational experiences, to ensure that barriers to their engagement and learning success can be overcome.
* Teaching and learning in all subjects follows programmes of study as set out in the National Curriculum / Exam Board syllabus for the pupils' stages and year groups. All learning at TPA is delivered as is appropriate for the pupils' stage regardless of their age.
* All learning takes full advantage of assessment for learning information and is therefore differentiated and designed to make it bespoke and personalised for each and every learner.
* To design and deliver programmes of study which are meaningful, memorable and fun in order to ensure pupils fully engage with, enjoy and remember their learning experiences and in a way which allows them to understand how new learning builds on previous knowledge and skills.
* In order to make learning fun and engaging, we intend teaching in other subjects to provide pupils with opportunities to be creative. As well as many of our pupils enjoying creative activities and this assisting them to be engaged in the learning, it allows us to develop creative skills and the associated growth mindset to enable our pupils to develop the necessary creative skills.
* Learning at TPA intends to develop resilience as a learner, in line with the overall school vision. Teaching in all subjects is grounded in growth mindset principles and provides pupils with the opportunities and the security to try things out, question their learning and make and learn from their mistakes. It intends to develop a sense of curiosity throughout and we therefore intend to encourage a notion of wonder.
* It is intended that strong links to citizenship, global awareness and Fundamental British Values are explicitly explored through the teaching of all subjects at TPA.
* We intend to provide opportunities for pupils to gain meaningful accreditation for their learning at every available opportunity. We aim to ensure that learners leave TPA with qualifications which reflect their progress and success and provide them with meaningful currency to progress with education, training or employment.
* At TPA, we believe that strong literacy and mathematical skills underpin all learning across the curriculum and that they are essential life skills. To this end, teaching activities across the curriculum are designed to develop essential literacy skills. It is important to us therefore, that reading skills, vocabulary, oral language skills and writing skills are both used to enhance learning in all subjects as well and to be developed through the learning of other subjects. The same is true of mathematical skills : our intention is that mathematical skills are used both to enhance learning across other subjects and further developed in subjects across the curriculum.
* Teaching at TPA uses a broad range of resource types in order to meet the multi-sensory needs of our pupils. A key element of our resourcing is the use of technology. Our pupils enjoy using technology to more fully explore their learning and the world around them. It is important therefore, that we embrace and encourage this use of technology, again as a tool for engagement and interest and to enhance our lessons. A further benefit of this intention is to develop our pupils' skills in technology across the curriculum in order to continue to furnish them with the computing skills they will need for success in their futures.
CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTATION
A key strength of our school is our flexibility and creativity in our delivery of the National Curriculum. Our small teaching groups enable us to deliver our teaching in a way which can be certain is meaningful and beneficial for every one of our pupils. This might be in the derision of alternative approaches to teaching various subjects when engagement and interest is a barrier, or through innovative approaches to meet bespoke learning needs.
Our implementation of the curriculum -
* Teaching at TPA follows the programmes of study for each subject set out in the National Curriculum. Whilst we sometimes reframe some of the teaching in order to meet the needs of our learners, teachers always ensure that the skills and key concepts continue to be covered through their teaching.
* Teaching across all subjects is linked in a thematic approach wherever it is possible and appropriate. This holistic view ensures a more complete, comprehensive learning experience about topics which we believe pupils find more meaningful. We ensure that the thematic approach is genuinely meaningful and that links are not made tenuously.
* Learning is enriched wherever possible and appropriate, through taking the pupils on trips and visits, for example to locations, museums, theatre visits or by bringing visitors into school to work with the pupils. We ensure that learning across all subjects provides our pupils with local, national and global experiences.
* In our small classes, we know our pupils incredibly well. Teachers at TPA are highly observant of misconceptions in pupils learning and our strong relationships enable us to address these misconceptions in a timely and effective manner in order to ensure they do not impact on future learning. Equally, where a gap in a pupil's learning is identified, work is planned to enable this piece of learning to be caught up on.
* Our implementation of the curriculum across all subjects is designed for the bespoke learning styles and needs of our pupils. We observe the learning styles of the pupils, identifying the ways they learn most effectively as well as how they enjoy learning. We ensure that we build on these styles, but also provide experiences in the other styles as well in order that key skills can be developed in all styles. We aim for learning to be as multi-sensory as possible, supporting our learning with specific learning difficulties, but helping all our pupils have memorable and meaningful learning experiences.
* Expectations across the curriculum are consistently high and pupils are always encouraged to perform to their individual potential. Our strong relationships and growth mindset approach facilitate this effectively.
* At TPA our curriculum is rich in opportunities for our pupils to develop their own individual opinions and stylistic choices, whilst also encouraging the development of empathy and compassion. This develops the key elements of citizenship and social skills.
* Our curriculum implementation has a range of opportunities to work in class groups, in smaller groups and pairs and individually. Our teaching provides many opportunities for pupils to develop as independent learners.
* Pupils are given opportunities to make choices in their learning. This gives them ownership of their work. An example of this may be when a pupil may be given the opportunity to choose the format in which they record their learning.
* Our curriculum implementation is rich in opportunities to develop literacy skills such as reading, writing, vocabulary and oral language skills and also mathematical skills. These are designed to develop the skills across the curriculum as well as to use the skills to enhance the learning of subjects across the curriculum.
Essential Skills / Interventions -
Some pupils have sessions (matched to their individual needs) to address bespoke needs with regard to basic skills in literacy, mathematical , and aspects of personal development. These lessons are used to address misconceptions or specific needs in -
* Phonics
* Accurate and fluent reading
* Reading comprehension
* Speech and language skills
* Sensory needs
* Occupational therapy skills
* Auditory and visual memory strategies
* Times tables
* Number facts
* Study skills
* Life skills such as telling the time, money or reading timetables.
* A wide range of well-being and pastoral support interventions (e.g. to address specific needs such as anxiety, self harm, mental health needs).
Where teachers identify specific areas of need during their teaching, they will plan to address these misconceptions, gaps or areas of difficulty during essential skills lessons. Essential skills lessons can be
utilised
for opportunities for over-learning or pre-learning in a subject.
Reading
At TPA reading is assessed in detail on entry to our school and subsequently at the beginning of each school year. This assessment is completed individually using the Diagnostic Reading Analysis (DRA). This assessment provides teachers with measures of reading accuracy, comprehension, reading speed and also gives an indicative reading age for each pupil. Assessment of reading in this way enables us to judge the specific reading skills which need to be targeted for improvement.
Every class has a 15-minute daily reading session each morning, and a further 20-minute DROP EVERYTHING AND READ session after lunch. During these sessions reading for pleasure is promoted and specific reading skills are taught, developed and rehearsed via a range of reading opportunities and activities. This will include -
* Free choice reading, including books, magazines, newspapers and online sources.
* Reading with an adult with a focus on reading accuracy and comprehension.
* Reading activities which will target areas such as vocabulary development, retrieval skills, inference skills, summarising and fluency.
CURRICULUM IMPACT
At Turning Point Academy, we review our curriculum regularly in the light of information from our teachers and pupils. If a subject leader identifies an element which is not working as well or if our progress data indicates that pupils are finding specific aspects challenging, then our teaching is adapted to support these areas. Our curriculum is updated in line with national requirements or the availability of new resources or initiatives to ensure that we can be confident that our curriculum is as appropriate for our pupils as possible. The effectiveness of our curricula for each subject are evaluated regularly by our subject leaders via book scrutiny, looking at work on display and through talking to pupils and analysing data.
Pupils' prior attainment in their previous setting is considered on entry to our school along with some initial baseline assessments which we conduct in order to provide teachers with a starting point from which to begin their teaching in each subject. Progress and attainment in all subjects are assessed termly and findings are reported formally to parents/carers. Pupil's performance in subjects is assessed against National Curriculum Statements using B-Squared and progress is assessed from the pupils' individual starting points and in relation to Age related Expectations. This means that our assessment of progress and attainment is always up to date and teachers have a sound understanding of pupils' attainment in order to inform their planning.
Our curriculum is able to cater for pupils who will be able to study higher level GCSE qualifications, as well as those needing to follow a more functional / vocational route. There are a range of qualifications available at GCSE, BTEC, entry level, functional skills levels and also technical awards at levels 1 and 2. Our range of subjects is increasing each year as the school grows and employs new staff able to teach a wider range of subjects. As a small special school, we offer a wide range of qualifications to our pupils, and we are proud to be able to offer courses at higher level GCSE for our high functioning pupils.
Click on the links below to see -
* Subject Coverage - how each subject is split across the age ranges and what is available.
* The qualifications / accreditation available for our pupils.
CORE CURRICULUM
Our Key CORE subjects are -
English
Mathematics
Science
Computing
PE/Sport/Fitness
Drop Everything & Read (DEAR Time) - daily session
CREATIVE CURRICULUM
Our Creative Curriculum covers -
Art & Design
Design Technology
Food Studies / Catering
Music
Options subjects for Key Stage 4 include -
* Design Technology / Construction
* Animal Care
* Art & Design
* Music
* Food and Cookery Skills
* Health & Fitness
LIFE CURRICULUM& SOCIAL / CULTURAL CURRICULUM
Our LIFE Curriculum is an important aspect of our overall provision. It is taught in modular blocks and drop down days throughout the year, and includes the following -
Personal, Social & Health Education
Relationship, Sex and Health Education
Employability Skills
Restorative Practice
Character & Resilience Building
Stress Management
Relaxation
Well-Being
Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme
Our Social / Cultural Curriculum is very much linked to the LIFE Curriculum and across all areas of the TPA Curriculum. Included are -
World Studies (History, Geography and Religious Studies)
Religious Studies (KS4)
Preferred Activity Time (PAT Time)
PRIMARYCURRICULUM SUMMARY
Click on each button to see a Curriculum Roadmap for each subject, which outlines a summary of what is to be taught during the year.
Primary Mathematics
Primary English
Primary Science
Primary Computing
Primary PE/Sport & Fitness
Primary Music
Primary MFL
Primary PSHE / RSE
Primary World Studies
Primary Art & Design Technology
SECONDARYCURRICULUM SUMMARY
Click on each button to see a Curriculum Roadmap for each subject, which outlines a summary of what is to be taught during the year.
Secondary Mathematics
Secondary English
Secondary Science
Secondary Computing
Secondary PE/Sport & Fitness
Secondary Music
Secondary History
Secondary Sociology
Secondary Philosophy & Ethics
Secondary PSHE / RSE
Secondary Employability Skills
Secondary Art & Design
Secondary Food Technology
Secondary Food & Catering
Secondary RE
Secondary Geography
LIFE
CURRICULUM
Click below to see an overview of our LIFE Curriculum, which spans across many areas of the curriculum and school life. It includes key areas of work like Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural (SMSC) development and British Values.
Life Curriculum Overview
Forest Skills (whole school)
Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme